Confused as to how your degree goes together? So were we! So we made this unofficial guide to how to add a minor or a second major. When you earn your degree at IU Indianapolis, that degree is actually made up of 3 separate blocks of requirements:
Let’s see how these work.
Every student at IU Indianapolis (and most universities in the state of Indiana) has to complete their GEC Block of requirements. Let’s think about IU Indianapolis as your birthday party at Build-a-Bear.
| Unit | Requirements Block | Example | Silly Metaphor |
| Campus | GEC | IUI | Build-a-Bear party |
Based on their chosen major (more on that in a second), every student at IU Indianapolis is eventually part of a “School” (i.e. School of Liberal Arts, School of Science). Each School has their own specific “Baccalaureate Competencies” Requirement Block (BC Block) that every student in that school needs to complete. Think of your school as the bear you pick out at the Build-a-Bear party.
| Unit | Requirements Block | Example | Silly Metaphor |
| Campus | GEC | IUI | Build-a-Bear party |
| School | BC | School of Liberal Arts (SLA) | Harry Potter Bear |
Majors and degrees are effectively the same thing. You have to get a degree in something: that something is commonly referred to as your “major.” Most degrees are awarded by (“housed” in) departments. In SLA, most departments only offer one type of undergraduate degree, but some departments have multiple programs that each offer their own degree (e.g. the World Languages and Cultures Department offers degrees in Spanish, French, German…). Other degrees are offered by programs that cross departments (e.g. International Studies, Museum Studies…). Confused yet?
Each degree has its own Requirements Block (DEG Block) that needs to be fulfilled. These typically culminate in a Capstone course. Think about your department as your chosen theme for your bear and your degree as your outfit for said bear.
| Unit | Requirements Block | Example | Silly Metaphor |
| Campus | GEC | IUI | Build-a-Bear party |
| School | BC | SLA | Harry Potter Bear |
| Department / Program: Degree | DEG | World Languages and Cultures: Spanish | Gryffindor House: School robes outfit |
Now comes the fun part: fulfilling all these requirements! Each Block has requirements that you have to fulfill in credit hours. These requirements can take several forms:
In most cases, if you use a course to fill one requirement, you can’t use it to fulfill another requirement in the same Block.
Think of the various requirements as components of your bear. At the party level (GEC), you need to chose a time, a place, a guest list, etc. At the bear level (BC), you need to chose which animal skin you want (trust me, it’s a thing, look it up), how much stuffing you want, etc. At the outfit level (DEG), you need to choose the bottoms, the top, etc.
Once you have your Degree in progress, you are free to add on more bells and whistles, including minors and a second degree. The great news is that minors work differently than majors:
Think of a minor as a separate set of accessories for your bear. You don’t need to buy a separate party, bear, or outfit again: you already have a fully dressed bear. But you can add some different accessories to further diversify your full bear experience. A minor can be closely related to your degree (think a Ravenclaw scarf and tie in addition to Gryffindor) or not even in the same school (think a Batman cape and utility belt).
Getting back to the bear metaphor, if you already have a wand for your Gryffindor outfit, you don’t need another one to go with your Ravenclaw accessories.
| Unit | Requirements Component | Example | Silly Metaphor |
| Campus | GEC | IUI | Build-a-Bear party |
| School | BC | SLA | Harry Potter Bear |
| Department / Program: Degree | DEG | World Languages and Cultures: Spanish | Gryffindor House: School Robes outfit |
| Minor (optional) | World Languages and Cultures: French | Gryffindor House: Quidditch accessories | |
| Minor (optional) | Anthropology: Anthropology | Ravenclaw House: Ravenclaw accessories | |
| Minor (optional) | Biology: Biology | Batman: Batman accessories |
Just like you can add a minor, your can add a second degree (DEG2). You won’t have to do your GEC Block again, because you haven’t added a new campus. If you chose a second degree in the same School, you won’t have to do your BC Block again, because you haven’t added a new school. Even better, thanks to the “Dual Degree Advantage,” if your Degree #1 (DEG1) is not within the School of Liberal Arts (SLA), and you add Degree #2 inside SLA, you still do not need to fulfill the SLA BC Block. In other words, no matter what, the only additional requirements you have to fulfill will be those in your DEG2 Block.
AND you may be able to apply some of the classes that you used to fulfill some of the more general requirements of your DEG1 Block (e.g. you need X # of “elective” credits at 300+ level) towards fulfilling the requirements of your DEG2 Block.
Think of adding a Second Degree as buying another entire outfit. From the Dual Degree Advantage perspective, you don’t need to buy another bear: you can use the one you already have.
| Unit | Requirements Component | Example | Silly Metaphor |
| Campus | GEC | IUI | Build-a-Bear party |
| School | BC | SLA | Harry Potter Bear |
| Degree #1 | |||
| Department / Program: Degree | DEG1 | World Languages and Cultures: Spanish | Gryffindor House: School robes outfit |
| Minor (optional) | Biology | Batman accessories | |
| Degree #2 (optional) | |||
| Department / Program: Degree | DEG2 | Anthropology: Anthropology | Ravenclaw House: School Robes outfit |
| Unit | Requirements Component | Example | Silly Metaphor |
| Campus | GEC | IUI | USA |
| Degree #1 | |||
| School | BC | Science | DC Superhero Bear |
| Department / Program: Degree | DEG1 | Biology: Biology | Batman: Crime fighting outfit |
| Degree #2 (optional) | |||
| School | BC | SLA | |
| Department / Program: Degree | DEG2 | World Languages and Cultures: Spanish | Gryffindor House: School Robes outfit |
